A review by escape_through_pages
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖REVIEW📖

In the simplest of terms, Trespasses is a story of forbidden love. In Northern Ireland during the Troubles, an older Protestant man, married no less, is not supposed to enter into a relationship with a young Catholic school teacher. 

The time and the setting of this novel mean everything. The community, the allegiances, the political and sectarian violence, are in the faces of the ordinary folk daily. Every choice, every action has a potentially devastating consequence. Kennedy makes this clear from the early pages, such that you read with a building sense of nervousness and foreboding.

The sense of place is incredible. The romance itself, however, I found less believable. The relationship seemed to start out of nowhere and be serious instantly. Michael, the older married, Protestant barrister has all the power in this relationship and comes across as a little predatory. I did not like that Cushla appeared to surrender all control of what their relationship is to be and took absolutely no offence that he was disappointed to find out she wasn’t a virgin! I expected this book to break my heart but because of this, and an overall lack of emotionality, it didn’t.

That’s not to say this isn’t a good book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The characterisation is excellent, the supporting characters are very well written. I particularly loved Cushla’s mother, Gina - a woman who struggles to cope with the circumstances life has thrown at her without the numbing effect of alcohol, but who is astute, caring and undoubtedly her own person.

This isn’t a love story, I don’t wish to sell it as that. It has much more edge. It’s a story of a time and a place defined by darkness and fear, and the effect of this on the ability of ordinary people to live.